Packer has called final Final Four

Kellogg to be new lead college hoops analyst

New York  Billy Packer didn't sound like a man who found out his 34-year run as part of the Final Four broadcast had ended.

On Monday, CBS announced that Clark Kellogg would replace Packer after 27 years as the network's lead college basketball analyst. Including his earlier years at NBC, Packer had done every Final Four since 1975, an unparalleled run for a national sports championship.

"These are really good circumstances," Packer told the Associated Press by phone. "This decision was made with myself and CBS over a year ago. Their timing to announce it is their business. I have nothing to do with that. I was working on a series of 1-year contracts for several years. ... I did say there would be no mention during the season so as not to detract from the games and the guys involved."

Kellogg, a game and studio analyst for CBS for 16 years, will be the man next to Jim Nantz on the 2009 Final Four broadcasts.

"With his unquestioned popularity and performance over the years, Clark Kellogg earned all rights to this top spot," Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports, said in a statement. "Like Billy Packer, Al McGuire or any of the most highly regarded broadcasters, Clark is an original voice with his own style and perspective."

The 68-year-old Packer said he was happy for Kellogg, who played at Ohio State and then in the NBA.

"I think he has worked his trade and certainly as a player was a student of the game. His work at CBS and the fact he is such a smart guy should serve him well," Packer said. "I wish him nothing but the best."

Packer also will end his long run as an analyst for Raycom, a regional network that covers the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"I have had a chance to broadcast most of the great games since college basketball got on national television, and I'm not interested in broadcasting any more games," he said. "I enjoyed doing that, but I won't be any more."

He said he is involved in a college basketball project that he'll discuss in a few months.